The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 finale ending explained: Maggie spares Negan as two shocking deaths rock Manhattan 

The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 Episode 8, titled If History Were a Conflagration, dropped on June 22, 2025, on AMC and AMC+. While the finale did wrap up the major storylines, it also left the viewers on a cliffhanger, suggesting a possible renewal. However, AMC has not renewed The Walking Dead: Dead City for a Season 3 yet.

In the penultimate episode of the season, we saw how Negan managed to infiltrate a zombie-infested hospital, Bellevue, to get medicines for Ginny. On the other hand, the Croat and Maggie set out on a mission to find Hershel. When Maggie finally found Hershel, she saw him with the Dama (yes, she's alive). The Dama knocked down Maggie and held her hostage.

The finale delivered a brutal and emotional conclusion, with two shocking deaths that reshaped the fates of Maggie, Negan, Hershel, and the Dama forever. After two seasons of uneasy alliances, betrayals, and power struggles, every major character was forced to choose between revenge and survival. The finale of The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 set the stage for an uncertain future—one with new enemies, old scars, and a constant power struggle.

Here's what we know about the finale episode of The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2

Spoilers ahead!

The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 finale ending explained: Maggie chooses mercy over killing Negan

The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 finale brought long-simmering tension between Maggie and Negan to a brutal and emotional head.

The episode began with Maggie in the Dama's custody; however, she was released when she promised Hershel that she would kill Negan—a vow born of years of grief and rage. Hershel seemed to be completely brainwashed by the Dama; it almost felt like Hershel was the Croat's replacement. Surprisingly, when Maggie had the opportunity to kill Negan, she couldn't.

Maggie found Negan at Burazi's stronghold, where he slipped back to his past dark persona. He forced Bruegel and Perlie to their knees as he counted the infamous eeny meeny miny moe to select who to kill first. Even though the counting ended on Perlie, he chose to kill Bruegel. Bruegel was suffocated with methane and set ablaze. Meanwhile, when Negan was about to kill Perlie, he escaped as Maggie intervened and stabbed him. Maggie bravely picked up the infamous baseball bat, Lucille 2.0, and chased him. Negan quickly went near the cell and found that Ginny had succumbed to her injuries and turned into a walker. This completely shattered him. Maggie had the perfect opportunity to kill Negan; however, she chose to spare his life. Maggie was stunned when she saw how Negan took care of Ginny, and this is one of the major reasons that stopped her from killing him. In the raw and emotional scene, Maggie realized that killing Negan wouldn't heal her wounds or Hershel's. Thus, Maggie willingly chose mercy over vengeance.

The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 finale ending explained: Negan kills Bruegel

Bruegel's ambition to seize control of Manhattan's methane sources met a fiery end thanks to Negan. Hoping to outsmart Bruegel, Negan welcomed him and his men for a feast, only to flip the table, revealing hungry walkers. Stripped of weapons and boxed in by flamethrowers, Bruegel's army was decimated as the church became an inferno.

Amidst the chaos, Negan captures Bruegel and Perlie and counts eeny meeny miny moe to select who to kill first. Even though the counting ends on Perlie, he chooses to kill Bruegel first. Negan doesn't thrash him to death with his Lucille; instead, he takes him near a methane tank, puts a tube in his mouth, and forces him to swallow the gas. Merciless…isn't it? Negan then sets his mouth ablaze with a torch and delivers a deadly blow with his Lucille.

The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 finale ending explained: Ginny's death breaks Negan's hope of redemption

While Negan's war with Bruegel raged, another heartbreak unfolded. Ginny, whose bond with Negan blurred the lines between protector and destroyer, succumbed to the infection from an earlier injury. Despite Negan's desperate attempt to save her—raiding a walker-infested hospital—he failed. When he returned to the safe cell where he kept Ginny, he saw that she had died and turned into a walker. Negan chose to end her pain and stabbed the walker Ginny in her head with Maggie's knife. Ginny's death shattered Negan's resolve, stripping away his last flicker of hope and redemption. Negan felt as helpless as he felt when his wife, Lucille, passed away due to cancer.

The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 finale ending explained: Hershel and the Dama form an evil alliance, while the New Babylon forces capture Manhattan

In the final gut punch, Hershel chose to remain with the Dama rather than reconcile with Maggie. Maggie's failure to put an end to Negan's life widened the misunderstanding between the mother-son duo. The Dama, now stripped of Burazi's power, stood with Hershel as they plotted their next move.

Additionally, by the end of The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 finale episode, we also see the New Babylon forces marching towards the Manhattan methane center, suggesting a takeover of the city. The New Babylon forces took advantage of the war-like situation in Manhattan and chose the perfect time to return to the city in hopes of establishing their rule. Meanwhile, the finale didn't give any answers to the whereabouts of the Croat. In the penultimate episode, we saw that he wished to go back to Croatia and parted ways with Maggie as she set out on her final lap to find Hershel.

With Negan and Maggie still in Manhattan, the unusual yet unpredictably cruel pairing of the Dama and Hershel, and New Babylon forces closing in, it's clear that The Walking Dead: Dead City's story is far from over.

All episodes of The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 are available on AMC and Amazon Prime Video.

Trending

Tune in to SoapCentral for more updates.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback